UK
There are now tens of thousands of candidates chasing a couple of hundred graduate positions. So what will differentiate you from the throng? After a career in capital markets, here are my observations –
Academic excellence: Having a first or a 2:1 from a top university is assumed. Most candidates will also have a relevant Masters degree. The will also be studying for professional qualifications (SII, CFA), will work part-time, captain sports clubs, have substantial international travel experience and actively engage in campus life. If your CV doesn’t contain all these points you are unlikely to enjoy a great deal of success.
The human factor: The most common problem in interviews is the ‘human’ factor. Banks aren’t looking for Gordon Gecko. They are looking for ambitious, confident, mature, technically-able and above all personable candidates they would like to work with. Arguably this human element is more important than your technical ability – technical knowledge can be taught; relationship skills can’t.
Commitment and interest: If you make it through to interview you will need to demonstrate your commitment to a career in finance (professional qualifications, membership of University Finance Societies, solid grasp of current financial news).
Demonstrate during the interview that you’re comfortable discussing recent financial events. Put forward informed opinions and ask plenty of questions about how your interviewers are finding the current market, how the bank is dealing with the current crisis, and where they see the markets heading in the future. A lively debate or thought-provoking opinion will remain in the minds of bankers when they come to select who will progress to the next stage of the recruitment process.
Overall therefore, get busy. Your CV should be crammed with recent positions of responsibility and membership of clubs and societies – as well as excellent academic results. Whilst a ‘solid 2:1 from a solid University’ may have been good enough in recent years, current market conditions are pushing candidates to achieve a lot more before their application is even considered for a second look.
The author is a senior capital markets professional at a European bank in London.
I would like to cross over to a financial position from law. I don’t have all those extra-curricular items you listed as I left university about ten years ago. Is it possible to substitute with somethng else?
Ahahahah, ireally like this i-wish-i-was kind of stuff
The thing is you should know to get the job done. One who can make things happen rather than waiting for the thing which is also know as making a difference. In brief you should think globally and act locally which is not natural for everyone.
Mr. AAT. You are spouting generic corporate phrases in an incoherent manner. This is neither helpful or insightful. In brief pipe down.
Erm, this is getting crazy. Most of the people I know at LSE who are in the process of applying/attending interviews do not have all these attributes, particularly not financial qualifications…
They don’t expect you to have started your qualifications if you have just completed a bachelors degree, but if you come from a finance/banking/business/economics degree, check with the exam boards to see if you get any exemptions from CIMA/ACCA/ACA etc and then put that on your CV
I think that you’ll discover as you progress through the recruitment stages that most of those actually offered positions will absolutely display the above. Excellent grades from a top university will only get you into the interview (at best). Once you’re in the system, all of those being interviewed are treated exactly the same, and you can be quite sure that no interviewer will care (or probably even remember) what university you attended.
With regard to Professional qualifications – they are an excellent, though by no means necessary, additional differentiator on the CV. If you are completing a masters for example, why not pay the extra 650-800 and complete CFA Level 1, or pay the 200 or so and complete an SII Certificate in Securities, Derivatives etc.
In my experience, interviews are heavily loaded with socially inept Maths grads who, it is clear upon meeting, will not be getting a front-office job in banking. These are also the people who are bombarding the message boards with their incredulity at not being offered a position, or even an invite to an interview.
Another thing to focus on is ‘polishedness’, i.e. coming across professional and articulate in interviews. Sadly this can be largely dependent on social background or ethnicity. I have sat in on many 2/3 on 1 interviews with working class candidates from top academic backgrounds that just cannot articulate as well as a polished middle class private/grammar school applicant. These applicants are rarely progressed as many interviewers know that having the correct soft skills is viewed as critical by other front office staff. So I would say from very early on, you should try to work on your image and soft skills to develop a persona of professionalism and good articulation skills.
Absolutely agree with the need to be ‘polished’. Irrespective of any idealistic working situation or premise, virtually all (if not 100%) of those interviewing candidates after the HR stage, will be white, middle class, relatively articulate and male. Candidates need to develop the ability to ‘fit in’ from the outset, or quire simply, you will not progress.
If the thought of doing so sickens you to your very core, then till you get to the actual role, where doing this on a daily basis is the norm. Racism, chauvinism, sexism and a general ‘old boys’ atmosphere is absolutely the norm, and don’t let anybody convince you otherwise….
So much for diversity and equality then?!
banks are not hiring period! no matter what efinancialcareers.com or the banks say they ARE NOT HIRING, they are FIRING… stop misleading people on this site that banks are hiring, THEY ARE NOT, at least not in front office, maybe for crappy back office work but not for real banking work, maybe they hired a few summer interns (maybe) but trust me they are not hiring when Goldman and Morgan Stanley post $2B+ losses, Citi is bailed out, UBS and others quietly waiting their demise
FORGET BANKING GUYS, THE INDUSTRY IS DEAD FOR A FEW YEARS — FOR GET IT!!! Go into industry, make connections and hopefully set yourself up for when in 2-3 years time M&A starts to pick up
Until then FORGET BANKING
I have got a professional Qualification (ACCA) but not much of experience ( just over a year part time experience). Given that scenario how to approach banks for their graduate programs.
It seems like i am in the middle of graduate and experience hire programs.
Any suggestions or pieces of advice ?
Thank you Anonymous, at least you are very honest!
Back office is always hiring. Try risk management, IT (Application Development, Business Analyst), Compliance and more. The pay is resonable but not in millions.
If you want to advance to front office, then I would hold out for it. In this market, with such a surplus of great talent fighting for any front office role, banks will be reluctant to move operations employees into the front office. Also what typically happens is operations people are placed into roles that front office graduates do not want to do…i.e. cash sales-trading, equity securities lending, marketing. I have seen some of these desks be comprised entirely of operations people, and they are all looked down upon by more ‘blue chip’ desks since the work is very mundane and boring. If you really have no choice, then I would go for a derivatives risk management or application programming role, which are more likely to lead to sales or trading positions on respected desks.
I believe an unfair picture of Maths grads is painted..the world is changing..its not just the boring nerdy kind of people who do Maths, and generally people are a lot more sociable than they once were…and Simple Really..if your aim in life is to make millions, then why would you want to work 16+ hours a day making millions for someone else, by working in ibank? I agree Operations is boring..even the operation representatives from all these ibank companies don’t show much enthusiasm towards their job..and chances are if you have long dreamed of working in a front office role and then end up doing something really boring, you are probably going to end up hating your life..however, even though operation grads aren’t considered for front office roles at the moment, there’s a possibility in a couple of years time they will be looked at first..esp if the operation departments start becoming flooded with people who hold top degrees at top unis!..which is where it seems to be heading…I just can’t help but wonder if ibank is really the place to be..only fools follow the crowd..just because ibank was THE job a while ago doesnt mean it still is, or it will be in future.
I work on a interest rate futures desk in a global investment bank and to date my job is secure. I joined as a grad in September but I am really unhappy and do not see a future for myself there. I need more activity and stimulation, I am not being worked to my full potential and feel that I would be more suited to trading considering my lust for excitement and First in Quantitative Finance Masters Degree. Do I speak to HR or do I lay low considering the climate?? I dont want to get stuck in this area and would consider a 20k pay reduction just to be happy. I feel I would prefer equity derivative trading or sales so i would really appreciate any advice you have for me.
Please HELP
Whoever wrote this article clearly doesnt want to recruit anyone, because graduates with ALL of these atributes clearly dont exist, its just absurd grad recruiters who think they can get the cream of the crop, and will wait in hope for someone.
From personal experience interviewers are complete morons anyway, who have no concept of a what a ‘real’ gradute is, forgetting that they probably had none of the qualities described above.
Ridiculous
Im not being funny….but no matter how much banks bang on about meritocracy this and meritocracy that…its all down to who you know….which is really unfair. Its the same with oxbridge applicants…why do you need to state whether your father/mother etc is alumni or not? It might be a meritocracy when you get there but before that lets face it most of them are middle classed, public school white boys..how did they get the job..? Daddy..obviously.
The comments of Anonymous are brilliant. It could be true that the recruiters are asking for super human while they are not. This is similar to those judges for selecting future stars when they can’t even sing or dance themselves.
If the industry is full of top grad from top univeristies, does it mean grad from other unis with less higher ranking has no chance?
And other comments about sexism in the industry, is it really hard for a female to survive or even entry?
Futures Grad,
Now is not the time to demonstrate a lack of commitment to the role you find yourself in. I’m in the same position myself – just wait until the ‘better’ times have returned and then you can take more control of your career path.
If redundancies are announced at your firm, then you could be quite sure that your manager isn’t going to protect you knowing that you wish to be elsewhere – so step carefully (and take solace in the fact that a) you have a FO role in the current market, and b) that there are others out there who are in the same boat).
They teach wrong theories in financial universities, cant see for that reason how ‘top of the tops’ graduation can be seen as a good merit. Good knowledge of financial markets should on the other hand be seen as a merit. The one can learn these tricks by own hand, if a person is ambitious enough. The problem is that there is no top university where you can go to take a graduation and get your ‘know how’ confirmed after you have by own hand learned how markets works..
why is it that the most import commnets are from anonymous???
Wonder who you are…